The night of Samhain, from the novel "The Return of the Celts": the eve of November 1st in the Celtic village on Monte San Simeone. "For the Celts, it was a festival that marked the relationship between life and death, the end of the sun season and the beginning of the night season. Up to that day, a fire would be lit in huts but only for cooking food, whereas from that day onwards and throughout the winter, it would be kept lit continuously to heat the hut and to keep away winter spirits on the night of the year. Therefore, on the day of Samhain, the Druid, who was the priest of their religion, would light a huge bonfire at nightfall in the valley below, where the small church of San Simeone now stands. Then everyone would light a torch from it, which they took home to light a fire at their own hearth. For the Celts, it was the magical night of Samhain, the night when doors were opened to the afterlife and the dead came to visit the living, just like the “little people” or elves on that very same night. For the Latins, it was the festival of their ancestors, the Lares, which the inhabitants of the village at the foot of San Simeone celebrated in an entirely original way by going up the mountain instead of going to the cemetery. Still today - commented the old woman stopping her knitting for a moment - in our village it is believed that on the evening of the dead, our dead go up Monte San Simeone, and on the way back they pass by to visit their homes. And traditions do not originate by chance! Igino Piutti
